Bitcoin has dropped to $250 a pop at Mt Gox amid fears the company will go bankrupt. If you're feeling brave, now is the time to snap some up (assuming you'll be allowed to withdraw them, of course). Bitstamp is trading a coin for $640 each.

I'd remain cautious about Bitcoin until we find out why exactly Mt Gox decided to go offline and close all it's communication channels. If it's amajor hack, then it deserves to be made public so that other Bitcoin exchanges can fix the bugs in the system. It might be something more sinister, though.

It reads like some sort of addicts page. Really is quite embarassing. A personal favourite from someone who lost some coins on Mt Gox:

About 14 coins. And it happens to be the last 14 coins my wife will ever let me invest in bitcoin. She wants nothing to do with it now. Not for investing, not for spending -- nothing. And it's a damned shame.

I love how all the other bitcoin companies got together to say that their money was safe. Did they think that would help people like me? Do they think my wife cares?

I love this community - I've been an evangelist since the early days - but no amount of guarantees or proof of solvency is ever going to win her trust back. And it kills me - because I know I'm not the only one who will be affected in this way.

Edit: And let me add that this was her money, from her savings acct. $8,500 gone.

The problem is that it is a community that by it's nature shies away from interference from government or established regulation and diligence.
Coupled with the fact that it now has ties with and the interest of criminal organisations thanks to sites like Silkroad.

The police don't seem to have taken much interest in these massive thefts so plenty of dodgy basement dwellers feel they can have a crack with relative impunity.

A bunch of idiots lost their glorious Fake-O-Bucks which they used actual bucks to by. Why would the law give a shit what fools do with their money?

Their magic beans turned out to be magic beans.

What makes all of the money we use any more legitimate than Bitcoins? As long as vendors will accept them then they are a completely legitimate form of payment. These thefts are no different to someone robbing a bank through electronics means, really.

What makes all of the money we use any more legitimate than Bitcoins? As long as vendors will accept them then they are a completely legitimate form of payment. These thefts are no different to someone robbing a bank through electronics means, really.

Absolutely, currency is based on trust alone, but with all the news and media buff we're seeing here, the trust base is kinda shaky I'd say

What makes all of the money we use any more legitimate than Bitcoins? As long as vendors will accept them then they are a completely legitimate form of payment. These thefts are no different to someone robbing a bank through electronics means, really.

Absolutely, currency is based on trust alone, but with all the news and media buff we're seeing here, the trust base is kinda shaky I'd say

I'm going to write to my MP demanding a bail out like that time my savings in Iceland were similarly stolen.

What makes all of the money we use any more legitimate than Bitcoins? As long as vendors will accept them then they are a completely legitimate form of payment. These thefts are no different to someone robbing a bank through electronics means, really.

Absolutely, currency is based on trust alone, but with all the news and media buff we're seeing here, the trust base is kinda shaky I'd say

Yeah, it is. It's currently the equivalent of a bank being given a drop in ratingby the (stupid fucking useless pointless) rating agencies.

He really isn't. As much as it seems like the kind of PR stunt you can imagine the cockweasel doing, that site is registered to an anonymous entity in Panama, and the recent transactions on the page is literally a typed out, hard-coded table.